Haplopelma shmidti problem

[Lasiodora]

I decided to mist and check out my adult female today. I poured a little bit of water into her burrow to convince her to come up. I picked her up and turned her upside down and found that she had mites on her. They look like the regular mites I see on left overs. The big problem is that a lot are congregating on a book lung opening! I put her in a sterile tupperware container with no substrate. The goal being to let them (mites) dry out. Should I use a dry paper towel as substrate or keep her bare? Will she be fine with low to zero humidity for an extended period? I would greatly appreciate any other suggestions that would help me rid her of the mites. BTW the way her old sterilite enclosure was dry except for the occasional mistings. Her burrow however was humid.
Thank You ahead of time.
Mike

 

[MrDeranged]

Hey Mike,

Personally I would say keep her on dry paper towel and you can try a mite trap or a small water dish (bottle cap from a 5 gallon water jug works great). The small water dish will help with the humidity in a closed environment and also serve as a mite trap when they try to find some humidity.

Scott

 

[Lasiodora]

Thanks Scott,
Will do.
Mike

 

[Steve Nunn]

Just to add to Scott's idea, if you still see mites throw in a piece of meat and leave it in there for a day, then remove it and the substrate and repeat if you have to. The mites should congregate on the meat. If the spider eats the meat (this is good), just leave the remains in for a day after she has finished with it.

Cheers,
Steve

 

[Lasiodora]

Things just got worst. She just chose a really crappy time to molt. the molt went fine except for two things. She retained the skin on her spinnerts. I tugged on it a little. It's not budging. I wet it a little in hopes that it will soften up. Also, her abdomen was white!? I sprayed it down a little and the white started coming off. It looked like spider waste. On top of all this she still has the mites on her. I've never experienced any of these problems before. Any help would be great.
Mike